No Carbs, Jeans, or Memory

Thanksgiving looms. Ours will be delayed until Saturday due to the kid's work schedules and travel plans. I have a lot of last minute things to do to get ready, and unlike Amy, I don't have enough presence of mind (is it present at all?) to make a list. I just think of something and try not to forget it until I get it done. Then I think of something else. The grocery list I did make a formal list of, but that's only because my biggest pet peeve is taking the time to go into the kitchen to do something with the meat I thawed out, only to find I don't have all the ingredients.

Friday we went to service. It was suppose to be a "sit and learn" service according to the bulletin they mail out monthly. We arrived, in casual clothing (my everyday stuff, my husband in jeans) to encounter the Rabbi in a suit and tie in the foyer. Uh oh. Then we entered the dining area to find all the women dressed up. Uh oh again.

I haven't quite figured this out. We dress up and go, and everyone will be dressed casually and look at us like, "Why are you so dressed up?" Then we dress casually, and that will be the time everyone is dressed up. I'm confused. I would suggest they put a dress code suggestion by each activity so we would know. I did figure out we dress up for bat/bar mitzvahs so I kept watching to figure out why all the dress up that evening, but I never did figure it out. We had our normal service, some refreshments afterward, and then sat down at the tables to hear the Rabbi do a short lesson on the Psalms. No special announcements, unusual guests, baby naming, bat/bar mitzvahs, nothing unusual. So what will happen is this week we will dress up, and everyone else will be casual. There ya go.

I've stopped baking challah because we are on this low carb thing, and when I do make it, I like to put raisins in it, which are definitely a no-no when you're trying to eliminate sugar. Add to that the fact that I don't care much for most bread, but I LOVE challah, and when it is in our home, I keep pinching off another piece, and another piece all day until it's gone. However, on passing up the challah on the eve of Shabbat, a nice man said to me, "Challah is not food for the body. It's food for the soul!" That may be true, I suppose, but I have a hard time cheating on the low-carb thing for fear I'll toss out the whole idea of sticking with it.

We've done great so far. At first I could tell I was losing. My clothes were getting looser, I could tie my shoes without my eye balls popping out, and I could cross my legs more comfortably. The last week, I feel bloated and miserable and wonder if I'm losing anything. I keep thinking if I tough it out and drink more water, this will be a passable plateau.

We went to the temple's annual Chanukah Sale on Sunday to find the parking lot packed and people scurrying to grab things like a red light special at K-Mart. We looked at all the Chanukah decorations, couldn't decide what to get, and so we bought a Hadvalah set. (The Havdalah service marks the end of Shabbat. It is performed on Saturday night normally about 45 minutes after sundown. Items needed: a glass of wine or other liquid, some fragrant spices, and a special braided Havdalah candle.)We are adding to our Judaica items, and decided rather than going all out decorating for Chanukah (My husband is going to be gone for the first three days of Chanukah on a business trip) we thought we would add something we wanted to get anyway, when we could afford it.



Well I better start trying to figure out what I need to do next to get ready for the kids coming home this Friday. Put clean sheets on guest beds, put towels in guest bathrooms, clean out sewing room/front guest room so it looks less of the first and more of the second, .....and on it goes....